1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates to small portable power sources and more particularly to small combustion motor generator power sources.
2. Background Information
For over a century there has been a need to generate electric power in the field, away from a reliable source of continuous power, such as the utility grid. Remotely generated power has, and continues to be, needed to operate lighting, equipment, radios and other key devices. Standard approaches to generating or supplying remote power have centered around a few basic technologies, namely: (a) a precharged battery assembly that is sized appropriately for the load and duration, (b) a motor generator packaged that operates a dynamo or alternator sized in output that satisfies the expected load; (c) a hybrid having a motor-generator, battery assembly combination, and (d) a “Stirling” cycle generator. Each of these prior art approaches has limitations.
In the first type, the battery packs are heavy, have limited power, and short duration (in normal use, after one hour or so the battery pack needs to be removed and recharged).
For the second type, traditional fuel-powered motor-generators (Diesel or Otto cycle-type) using rotary crank shafts and pistons are heavy, noisy, and not particularly portable, and therefore impractical in many applications that require frequent movement, often on foot through rough terrain. The typical motor generator used on a field construction site may be quite large and heavy to lift. It is usually dropped in one place and connected to a device or plurality of devices by a cord, often tens of feet long. Its construction and weight do not lend themselves to frequent movement and/or placement close to the device. These prior art motor generators are large because, while the average power is not high (less than 50-200 watts), the peak power output may be many times larger while a device is actually operating.
The third type of generation approach is derived from automotive technology, where a small engine charges batteries in a “hybrid” vehicle containing the batteries and the internal combustion engine. However, such automotive-sized components (engine generator and batteries) are significantly larger than needed for most field applications (a few watts (W) to 1-2 kW) they do not scale down well. In particular, the smaller the engine, the larger the battery needed to store power, so as to ensure sufficient peak power will remain available at all times. Moreover, where a connected device is run continuously, the engine must still be sized to deliver energy that matches or exceeds the device's power demand or the battery will slowly discharge as the system falls short of the continuous demand.
A fourth type of generation approach, known as the Stirling cycle engine, while having good combustion, is potentially quiet and is tolerant to ingesting particles. However, conventional designs have a high weight to power out ratio.
An alternate approach for providing a two cycle crankless engine that integrates an alternator coil with a sprung inline piston is taught in commonly assigned and published U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,683 entitled MINIATURE GENERATOR by Kurt Annen, et al., the teachings of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference. This engine employs a strong multi-helix spring to buffer the power stroke of a piston that moves an alternator coil through a permanent magnet to generate AC power. This power is conditioned to provide the needed DC voltage for operating a power tool or similar device. A small recharging battery or capacitor can be interconnected to the alternator and device motor to provide peak output current when needed. The motor of this system is surprisingly small and light, being comparable in size to a small scale model airplane engine. It is herein termed a miniature internal combustion engine (MICE)/generator.
Such performance significantly exceeds that available from a conventional crank-case engine/generator or a charged battery array for a given weight/size. This technology lends itself to a larger scale application, such as field power generation in, for example, the 12-24-28 VAC or VDC range with power output of, for example, 500 W to 1-2 KW.